A cyberattack on the Danish University of Copenhagen exposes the data of 525,000 people.
The University of Copenhagen in Denmark confirms that hackers gained unauthorised access to one of its test environments, exposing the personal data of 525,000 people. The attack was discovered last Tuesday and made public on Friday. PINs belonging to 20,000 staff members and students were also affected. The educational institution is currently investigating the impact of the incident.
Personal data and PINs
“The University of Copenhagen has confirmed a cyberattack in which hackers gained access to one of the university’s test environments,” the university said. The institution is still investigating the scale of the incident. The following information may already have been exposed: full names, national identity numbers, phone numbers and email addresses. This leaked information could increase the risk of phishing and social engineering attacks.
Yesterday, the university added that the PIN codes of the ID cards of around 20,000 staff members and students were also affected. As a precaution, the university closed off physical access to critical campus locations until these people had received a new PIN.
Otherwise, day-to-day teaching activities were not disrupted. The primary operational systems were left untouched. The university has reported the incident to the Danish data protection authority.
Earlier this year, an Italian university was also hit by a cyberattack that left its systems down for an extended period. Closer to home, educational institutions are increasingly being targeted too, such as VUB and other Flemish schools.